AIGL pitches for statehood demand on foundation day

DARJEELING, 15 May 2015: The All India Gorkha League, which chose to remain in oblivion for more than three years following the assassination of its president in 2010, on Friday observed the party’s foundation day by holding a public meeting in Darjeeling. Madan Tamang, the party’s former president, was murdered in broad daylight on May 21, 2010 at the Upper Clubside area of Darjeeling allegedly by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters while he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting. The AIGL remained largely inactive after the murder of Tamang although it observed the foundation day in the party office. Friday’s public meeting was the first in more than three years and commemorated the party’s 72nd foundation day. The AIGL was formed in May 15, 1943. Taking the opportunity, most speakers drew flak on the GJM accusing it of selling off the statehood demand. “The GJM has betrayed and compromised on the statehood demand. If the 29th state in the form of Telangana can be created, why not a Gorkhaland state? This shows the insincerity of the GJM,” said AIGL general secretary Pratap Khati. He also said the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration was not what the Gorkha people wanted and that it should be scrapped to pave way for a separate state. “If the present dispensation (GJM) and its leaders are sincere, they should denounce the GTA and take to the streets to make the Gorkhas’ dream into reality,” said Khati. Terming Tamang’s murder as sacrifice for the greater cause of a Gorkhaland state, the AIGL general secretary said the people should respect and support the AIGL in taking forward the statehood demand. “Our president laid down his life for a separate state. He never compromised unlike the GJM and the GNLF. We will never let go of the demand for a separate state,” he said.

AIGL vice president Laxman Pradhan echoed similar sentiments and said the statehood demand had got suppressed by the acceptance of the GTA that does not come with any constitutional guarantee. “Only a separate state is the ultimate dream of the hill people. The GTA, which is a temporary entity, is an obstacle in the path of achieving a separate state,” he said. Pradhan also pointed to the failure of the BJP MPs from Darjeeling in taking up the statehood demand. “Neither Jaswant Singh earlier nor SS Ahluwalia now has spoken for or taken up the statehood demand in Parliament. Their intention was just to become MPs and whatever they promised is only eyewash,” alleged the AIGL vice president.

The GJM is the political ally of the BJP. In the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP successfully fielded its candidates from Darjeeling constituency and the GJM extended its support in exchange for a pledge by the saffron front of taking up the statehood demand. [EOI]

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